"Here it is. Conflict Resolution," wrote eighth-grader Mary Seng, one of the 32 conflict resolution managers at the school. "You might not know what it is." (I don't think they do, Mary.)

"And you might think, 'Oh, yeah, right, young kids solving big things,' " Seng wrote. "But we try our best, and it works for really tough kids at our school in Oakland." I'm all for you giving it a shot, Mary, because the ever-growing number of adults in this mess are screwing it up royal. It would also be cheaper, unless people place value on the big public battle that lies ahead.

Seng's plan calls for "The two disputants . . . to talk about what happened, and they would probably find a solution. . . . Being fired wouldn't actually settle the conflict," she pointed out.

At least Seng, and her colleagues, Jorge Gonzalez and Mialina McDonald, understand what this is about, something you can't attribute to the parties involved. So far, resolution managers at Calvin Simmons have mediated or resolved more than 200 conflicts, said Gonzalez.

"These kids are just awesome," said Mary Ellen Bayardo, a teacher and the conflict resolution manager at the 1,200-student middle school.

"They've dealt with gang issues at the school, fights between kids, rumors that may lead to physical confrontations and sexual harassment issues," Bayardo said.

In most student disputes, the students persuade the parties to talk about their feelings and sign an agreement that lays out the rules of conduct between them.

The only problem I see with their plan is these kids assume that the parties involved will act like adults. Oh well.

TUNNEL TOWING CHANGES: Quietly and without much fanfare, Caltrans officials have shifted nonaccident towing responsibilities within the Caldecott Tunnel away from the trucks stationed outside the tunnel and passed them on to the ones stationed at the Bay Bridge.

The new configuration has been in effect since July 1, 1996, said Colin Jones, a Caltrans spokesman in the East Bay. There have been no complaints from the public, said Jones. "If there is a problem out there, the public will call us," Jones said.

Well, one of them called me yesterday to tattle.

Overall, it seems to work OK, responded Sherman Pulcher, a Caltrans supervisor at the tunnel. Then he added this caveat: "We have heard horror stories of people waiting 45 minutes inside there."

"It's a controversial subject out here, but we don't get paid to agree with all the decisions, just to carry them out," he said.

Trucks stationed at the tunnel still do respond to tunnel accidents, he said. By early January, emergency phones inside the tunnel will be converted to a cellular phone system that will be answered at the Bay Bridge Caltrans office, Pulcher said.

FEDERAL PROTECTION: Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park is home to the callippe silverspot butterly, which has just been listed on the federal register of endangered species. The known habitats for the earthen-colored butterfly with the trademark silver spots have dwindled from 14 to just two, said Patricia Foulk, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman. The butterfly eats and lays its eggs on a violet known as a Johnny-jump-up, a common plant found in the park. Its only other known population is in the grasslands of San Bruno Mountain in San Mateo County.

Separately, the Alameda whip- snake, whose known habitats are in western and central Contra Costa County, and Alameda County, was added to the federal list of threatened species. It has been protected by the state wildlife agency since 1971.

The whipsnake grows up to four feet in length and dines on rattlesnakes, lizards, birds and other small varmints. State and federal wildlife officials have identified only five populations of two or more snakes. The bright orange- yellow stripes on either side of the snake were described by one biologist as the color of a bright orange sunset, a beauty all Californians understand.

The snake is threatened by urban growth, genetic isolation, fragmentation of its habitat and poor livestock management. Federal designation brings funding for the protection and habitat recovery of the endangered species, Foulk said.